Fighting her own party: An interview with Missouri First Congressional District candidate Robyin Hamlin

[Valin]

Hot Air:

 

Dustin Siggins

7/19/12

 

In 2010, Robyn Hamlin ran for Congress as a Tea Party candidate in a district long held by Democrats. With little money and even less name recognition, she garnered less than 30% of the vote in the general election. The owner and operator of two small businesses who raises chickens on the side, she is frustrated with what she sees as a corrupt system in Washington that Congress is unwilling to change. Now she’s running again, this time against not only Democrats but the local and state GOP, which for reasons of a basic lack of courage made an under-the-table deal with the incumbent Democrat to guarantee the seat remains his.

 

As part of her re-election campaign, Hamlin hired Liberty Torch Political Consulting, LLC, a libertarian political consulting firm co-founded by my friend Josiah Schmidt. Earlier this week Josiah asked me if I’d interview Hamlin in order to help her get the word out about the GOP’s deal as well as garner support among conservatives nationwide in order to help her raise the money necessary to win the seat. Below is that interview, conducted by phone last evening.

 

(Snip)

 

DS: One of the reasons Josiah wanted me to interview you was because of an alleged deal between the local GOP and local Democrats. What is that about?

 

RH: This area was once considered a protected district, meaning it had to go to a black Representative due to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the area’s demographics. That went out the window after the 2000 Census. Every ten years we count all citizens and get their race, gender, etc. and this has not been a protected district since 2000.

 

I sent Josiah e-mails I exchanged with the local GOP, including one in March really blasting them. I sent it to 700 people with my complaint about how the GOP wasn’t competing for the district. One of the responses told me that the area is a majority-minority district, and thus the local GOP didn’t want to cause waves. So rather than do their due diligence, they just kowtowed.

 

My answer to the woman responding to my e-mail was to inform her that the area is no longer protected. I pointed out that this should have been obvious for many reasons, including the simple fact that Russ Carnahan is white and Lacy Clay is black.

 

As a side note, I’m half-white and have-Cherokee, but I don’t fall under “protected” status. You’d think I’d get special treatment – I mean, I’m a single mother who runs two businesses and is half-Cherokee. I fall under every minority category possible, but I don’t think I deserve assistance. Unless someone can’t do something, such as being in a wheelchair and needs help going up a ramp, he or she should stand on their own two feet.

 

Back on track – I did research on the racial diversity of the area and the Civil Rights Act, and found that the St. Louis-area racial demographics no longer fall under the Act’s purview. Yet the GOP continued to ignore me and just try to hand the district to the Democrats because they just want to ignore the 1st District.

 

The state GOP even does this. If you are in the 1st District and call to ask about volunteer opportunities, they will take your information and send you to another district. They are so used to having the 1st District be protected that they haven’t kept up with the way the district has changed. They did this in 2010. It’s also about leaving the Clays alone (Clay’s father held the seat before he did) and Carnahan ( Carnahan’s sister is Secretary of State, and Carnahan’s father was elected governor). Also, Carnahan’s brother has a green wind farm that due to ballot language in his district got federal and state money to subsidize his wind farm.

 

(Snip)

 

Hamlin For Congress

 

I've talked about this before...how The Party (for all its big talk) won't fight for urban and/or minority districts....Still Drives me crazy.

[pollyannaish]

Hold up. This is something I know nothing about. Explain protected districts under the civil rights act.

[Pepper]

[Valin]

Hold up. This is something I know nothing about. Explain protected districts under the civil rights act.

 

As I understand it starting with the Voting Rights Act certain States (mainly but not exclusively) in The South cannot redistrict without approval of the DOJ. What would happen is back in the day congressional districts were drawn in such a way as minorities were never in a majority. So now you have to have districts that are by law minority majority.

 

 

@Pepper

I'm sure you are more familiar with this than an old Yankee.

 

[Pepper]

@pollyannaish

@Valin

 

"Section 5 requires that the number of minority opportunity districts cannot decrease during redistricting. This is called retrogression.

 

Translation:

If you are minority, you can have your cake and eat it too, crying race card at every opportunity

 

 

This is all over the USA. All depends on who is drawing the maps

 

Just google

democrats republicans redistricting retrogression 2011 or 2012

[Valin]

@pollyannaish

@Valin

 

"Section 5 requires that the number of minority opportunity districts cannot decrease during redistricting. This is called retrogression.

 

Translation:

If you are minority, you can have your cake and eat it too, crying race card at every opportunity

 

 

This is all over the USA. All depends on who is drawing the maps

 

Just google

democrats republicans redistricting retrogression 2011 or 2012

 

I knew you'd come through! Good job.

[pollyannaish]

Thanks @Pepper and @Valin.

 

So, technically, it doesn't matter what party you belong to, just that you have the right skin color.

 

I see an opening that the GOP MUST start working on.